Council promises
crackdown on
seedy sex-venues

SEX venues like the bondage dungeon in Hucknall that was exposed by the Dispatch last year are to be hit by tight new controls.

Ashfield District Council is set to formally adopt legislation next Monday which cracks down on establishments that deal in sex.

The aim is to protect the “pyhysical and moral wellbeing” of children and young people through more strict licensing.

Pole-dancing clubs, strip bars and cinemas showing pornography come under the new rules as part of the Policing and Crime Act 2009.

A report to the council states that the legislation covers all establishments which provide entertainment that “involves nudity or which is for the purpose of sexually stimulating a member of the audience”.

Currently there are no such venues within Hucknall or the rest of Ashfield.

This is because the sex-fantasies Nottingham Dungeon, housed in a former funeral parlour on Annesley Road, closed down not long after the Dispatch expose.

But it would have been the sort of operation that would have fallen under the new crackdown.

For it provided a haven for sadomasochists to live out their fetishes just yards from Hucknall town centre and the National Schools.

The Dispatch revealed that inside the dungeon, ‘slaves’ could fork out hundreds of pounds in rooms containing shackles and handcuffs.

While freelance mistresses offered ‘services’ ranging from corporal punishment to waxing and shaving.

The dungeon was promoted through a disturbing website featuring pictures of naked men being tortured.

Until the Dispatch expose, Ashfield had no idea the dungeon was operating because it hadn’t been required to apply for a formal licence.

Legislation up for discussion at a meeting of the council’s licensing and registration committee next week is designed to close this loophole.

A report to the council adds: “This will allow the council to efficiently manage sex-establishments within its area.”

Failure to adopt the rules would leave the council in difficulty if it had to tackle a sex venue.

If it decided to defer a decision, it would have to launch a costly consultation with the police, parish councils and the sex-establishment trade.